Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Walleye Larviculture in Water Reuse Aquaculture Systems

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Yellow Perch, Walleye, and Sauger: Aspects of Ecology, Management, and Culture

Part of the book series: Fish & Fisheries Series ((FIFI,volume 41))

Abstract

Meeting of the three authors during the 2011 Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, led to frequent communication that formed the basis for collaborating on the status of their respective production facilities. The operation techniques of the water reuse aquaculture system (RAS) facilities in Vermont and Iowa are compared and contrasted. Kelsey and Johnson present detailed descriptions of Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) larviculture in innovative RASs at the fish culture facilities in Vermont and Iowa, respectively. Since 2011, intensive culture of Walleye fry/fingerlings has been conducted at the Ed Weed Fish Culture Station in Grand Isle, Vermont, with the goal of large-scale production from the facility’s program inception to supplement existing extensive pond culture efforts of fingerlings that are used for sports fishing restoration. Tank volumes of 1940 L are now used in a RAS dedicated exclusively for intensive Walleye culture. Proof-of-concept techniques have been applied with successive production years to duplicate identified advances related to feed and feeding rates as well as various rearing environment conditions. After two successive years of trials in four self-cleaning tanks (2018 and 2019), as of 2020 all tanks within the system are now self-cleaning, providing optimum rearing conditions. The feeding of blended feeds through the entire culture run has also been applied since 2017. Larviculture survivals from day 1 post hatch (1 dph) through 34 dph in excess of 60% are being achieved averaging 50 mm in length, providing recruitment to the fishery that can be documented.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources fish hatcheries rely on surface water sources for Walleye advanced fingerling production in single-pass systems. Aquatic invasive species as well as some pathogens are present in these water sources. RAS technology with secure water sources is one solution to these challenges. A pilot-scale larviculture RAS was built at the Rathbun Fish Culture Research Facility, and fingerling production began in 2019. The larviculture RAS produced 107,800 to 139,284 fingerlings in each crop to 1.0-g size with a 77.2% survival rate over the 2019–2020 trials. Except for an outbreak of bacterial gill disease, none of the several bacterial and protozoan pathogens that frequently infect Walleye during intensive culture using traditional surface water source were observed on fish reared in RAS during the 2019–2020 trials.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aneshansley ED, Timmons MB, Colesante RT (2001) Survival and growth of walleye Stizostedion vitreum fry as affected by water recirculation, feed transition age, and stocking density. J World Aquac Soc 32:89–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrows FT, Zitzow RE, Kindschi GA (1993) Effects of surface water spray, diet, and phase feeding on swim bladder inflation, survival, and cost of production of intensively reared larval walleyes. Prog Fish Cult 55:224–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boggs CT, Summerfelt RC (1996) Origin of oil film on the water surface of tanks used for the mass culture of larval walleye. In: Libey GS, Timmons MB (eds) Success and failures in commercial recirculating aquaculture. Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service (NREAS), NREAS-98, vol 2. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, pp 631–636

    Google Scholar 

  • Boggs CT, Summerfelt RC (2003) Enhancing gas bladder inflation in larval walleye: comparison of two methods for removing an oily film from the water surface of culture tanks. In: Barry TP, Malison J (eds) Proceedings of Percis III, the third international percid symposium, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, US, July 20–24, 2003. University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, Madison, WI, pp 19–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Bristow BT, Summerfelt RC (1994) Performance of larval walleye cultured intensively in clear and turbid water. J World Aquac Soc 25:454–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bristow BT, Summerfelt RC (1996) Comparative performance of intensively cultured larval walleye in clear, turbid, and colored water. Prog Fish Cult 58:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks RC, Heidinger RC, Kohler CC (1994) Mass-marking otoliths of larval and juvenile walleye by immersion in oxytetracycline, calcein, or calcein blue. NA J Fish Manag 14:143–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bumguardner BW (1991) Marking subadult red drums with oxytetracycline. Trans Am Fish Soc 120:537–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen C (2013) Mapping scientific frontiers: The quest for knowledge visualization. Springer-Verlag, London, 344 p

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Clayton RD, Summerfelt RC (2010) Gas bladder inflation in walleye fry cultured in turbid water with and without a surface spray. N Am J Aquac 72:338–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colesante RT (1996) Intensive culture of walleye using brine shrimp and formulated diets. In: Summerfelt RC (ed) Walleye culture manual, NCRAC culture series, vol 101. North Central Regional Aquaculture Center Publications Office, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, pp 191–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Colesante RT, Youmans NB, Ziolkoski B (1986) Intensive culture of walleye fry with live foods and formulated diets. Prog Fish Cult 48:33–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutts CJ, Batty RS (2005) Progress report on Algal-mediated turbidity and larval performance in marine fish: primary milestone 1. SAMSardtoe, Ardtoe Marine Laboratory, Ardtoe, Acharacle, Argyll, PH36 4LD. Report number: SR 502.1, 11 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson J, Summerfelt R, Barrows F, Gottsacker B, Good C, Fischer G, Summerfelt S (2016) Walleye Sander vitreus performance, water quality, and waste production in replicated recirculation aquaculture systems when feeding a low phosphorus diet without fish meal versus a traditional fishmeal-based diet. Aquac Eng 75:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards WJ, Babcock-Jackson L, Culver DA (2002) Field testing of protocols to prevent the spread of zebra mussels Dreissena polymorpha during fish hatchery and aquaculture activities. N Am J Aquac 64:220–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El Gamal AR (2015) Oil trapping and swim bladder inflation of marine fish. Fish Consulting Group. Available at: http://fishconsult.org/?p=12433

  • Fielder DG (2002) Methodology for immersion marking walleye fry and fingerlings in oxytetracycline hydrochloride and its detection with fluorescence microscopy. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Technical Report 2002-1, Ann Arbor, MI, 11 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Good SP (2020) Walleye oxytetracycline mark assessment. Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration, Project F-35-R-22, Study Number 1, Montpelier, Vermont, pp 1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Harder TM, Gotch GG, Summerfelt RC (2014) Growth response of juvenile Walleyes after cold banking. N Am J Aquac 76:255–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houde ED (1975) Effects of stocking density and food density on survival, growth and yield of laboratory-reared larvae of seabream Archosargus rhomboidalis (L.) (Sparidae). J Fish Biol 7:115–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howey RG, Theis GL, Haines PB (1980) Intensive culture of walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum). US Fish and Wildlife Service, Lamar Fish Cultural Development Center Information Leaflet 80-05, Lamar, Pennsylvania 11 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Hussain M, Summerfelt RC (1991) The role of mechanical injury in an experimental transmission of Flexibacter columnaris to fingerling walleye. J Iowa Acad Sci 98:93–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JA, Rudacille JB (2009) Production scale testing of formulated diet for the intensive culture of walleye and muskellunge. Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration, Project F-160-R, Completion Report, Des Moines, IA, 145 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JA, Rudacille JB (2010) Intensive culture of walleye converted to a diet as small fingerlings. Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration, Project F-160-R, Completion Report, Des Moines, IA, 91 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JA, Summerfelt RC (2015) Intensive culture methods of Walleye during ongrowing. In: Kestemont P, Dabrowski K, Summerfelt RC (eds) Biology and culture of percid fishes. Springer, New York, pp 437–468

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JA, Summerfelt RC, Clayton RD (2008) Evaluation of replacement feeds for Fry Feed Kyowa for larval walleyes. N Am J Aquac 70:445–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larscheid JG (1995) Contribution of stocked walleye and population dynamics of adult walleye in Spirit, East and West Okoboji Lakes. Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration, Project F-135-R, Completion Report, Des Moines, IA, 69 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Loadman NL, Moodie GE, Mathias JA (1986) Significance of cannibalism in larval walleye (Stizostedion vitreum). Can J Fish Aqua Sci 43:613–618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loadman NL, Mathias JA, Moodie GE (1989) Method for the intensive culture of walleye. Prog Fish Cult 51:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Logsdon DE (2006) Contribution of fry stocking to the recovery of the walleye population in the Red Lakes. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Investigational Report 535, 41 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Losordo TM, Conwell D (2014) Unit processes in RAS systems, ultraviolet radiation. Global Aquaculture Alliance technical article

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsden JE, Langdon RW (2012) The history and future of Lake Champlain’s fishes and fisheries. J Great Lakes Res 38:19–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marty GD, Hinton DE, Summerfelt RC (1995) Histopathology of swimbladder noninflation in walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) larvae: role of development and inflammation. Aquaculture 138:35–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCauley RW (1970) Automatic food pellet dispenser for walleyes. Prog Fish Cult 32:42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitzner L (1995) Man-made lake investigations. Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration, Project F-134-R, Completion Report, Des Moines, IA 11 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Moodie GE, Mathias JA (1996) Intensive culture of larval walleye on formulated food. In: Summerfelt RC (ed) Walleye culture manual. NCRAC Culture Series 101. North Central Regional Aquaculture Center, Publications Office, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, pp 187–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore AA (1996) Intensive culture of walleye fry on formulated feed. In: Summerfelt RC (ed) Walleye culture manual, NCRAC Culture Series, vol 101. Ames, IA, North Central Regional Aquaculture Center, Publications Office, Iowa State University, pp 195–197

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore A, Prange MA, Summerfelt RC, Bushman RP (1994) Evaluation of tank shape and a surface spray for rearing larval walleye on formulated feed. Prog Fish Cult 56:100–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Rourke PA (1996) Economic analysis for walleye aquaculture enterprises. In: Summerfelt RC (ed) Walleye culture manual, NCRAC Culture Series, vol 101. North Central Regional Aquaculture Center, Publications Office, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, pp 371–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Priegel GR (1964) Early scale development in the walleye. Trans Am Fish Soc 93:199–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rieger PW, Summerfelt RC (1998) Microvideography of gas bladder inflation in larval walleye. J Fish Biol 53:93–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rønfeldt JL, Nielsen JW (2010) Effect of turbidity on rearing of pikeperch larvae (Sander lucioperca L.). In: Biologispeciale udarbejdet, Detnaturvidenskabelige Fakultet Københavns Universitet, pp 19–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotman F, Stuart K, Drawbridge M, Paquette M (2017) Self-cleaning larval rearing tanks to improve larval production of California yellowtail Seriola doralis and white sea bass Atractoscion nobilis. Presented at Aquaculture America 2017, International Conference and Exposition, February 19–22, 2017, San Antonio, TX

    Google Scholar 

  • Secor DH, White MG, Dean JM (1991) Immersion marking of larval and juvenile hatchery produced striped bass with oxytetracycline. Trans Am Fish Soc 120:261–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spickler AR (2007) Viral hemorrhagic septicemia. Retrieved from http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/DiseaseInfo/factsheets.php

  • Summerfelt ST (1996a) Engineering design of a water reuse system. In: Summerfelt RC (ed) Walleye culture manual. NCRAC Culture Series 101. North Central Regional Aquaculture Center Publications Office, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, pp 277–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Summerfelt ST (1996b) Aquaculture of walleye as a food fish. In: Summerfelt RC (ed) Walleye culture manual. North Central Regional Aquaculture Center Publications Office, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, pp 215–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Summerfelt RC (1996c) Intensive culture of walleye fry. In: Summerfelt RC (ed) Walleye culture manual. NCRAC Culture Series 101. North Central Regional Aquaculture Center, Publications Office, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, pp 161–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Summerfelt RC (2005) The culture of walleye Sander vitreus (Mitchill 1818). In: Kelly A, Silverstein J (eds) Aquaculture in the 21st century: manual of fish culture III. American Fisheries Society Symposium 46, Bethesda, MD, pp 373–412

    Google Scholar 

  • Summerfelt RC (2013) Gas bladder inflation in larval fish aquaculture. In: Qin JG (ed) Larval fish aquaculture. Nova Science, Hauppauge, NY, pp 125–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Summerfelt RC, Johnson JA (2015) Intensive culture of Walleye from egg incubation to juvenile. In: Kestemont P, Dabrowski K, Summerfelt RC (eds) Biology and culture of percid fishes. Springer, New York, pp 313–335

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Summerfelt RC, Penne CR (2007) Nutrient retention by fish in a multispecies recirculation aquaculture facility. Int J Recirculating Aquac 8:43–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Summerfelt ST, Bebak-Williams J, Tsukuda S (2001) Controlled systems: water reuse and recirculation. In: Wedermeyer G (ed) Fish hatchery management, 2nd edn. Bethesda, MD, American Fisheries Society, pp 285–395

    Google Scholar 

  • Summerfelt RC, Johnson JA, Clouse CP (2011) Culture of walleye, sauger, and hybrid walleye. In: Barton BA (ed) Biology, management, and culture of walleye and sauger. Bethesda, MD, American Fisheries Society, pp 451–570

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmons MB, Ebeling JM, Wheaton FW, Summerfelt ST, Vinci BJ (2001) Recirculating aquaculture systems. Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center Publication No 01–002, 650 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmons MB, Guerdat T, Vinci BJ (2018) Recirculating aquaculture, 4th edn. Ithaca Publishing Co LLC, 775 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Zarnock CB, Schreibman CRT, Timmons MB (2010) Growth performance of walleye, Sander vitreus, in recirculating aquaculture systems. J Appl Aquac 22:285–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Kevin Kelsey would like to thank the entire technical staff at EWFCS , particularly the current staff on station: Paige Blaker, Jim Bellinghiri, Mark Roche, Michelle Ayer, and John Talbot from BHFCS. Their hard work was immeasurably important to achieving the results being presented in this chapter. An extended thank you is given to Ben Rooks, facility engineer at EWFCS , for leading the staff in the construction, design modifications, and overall operation and maintenance of the RASs on-site. I would like to thank Diana Arteaga Alvarez for her multifaceted support throughout every culture run. Thanks are also due to the Lake Champlain Walleye Association for all of their support and the Fisheries Division and Fish Culture Section of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department for efforts related to the Walleye program, particularly Shawn Good for his assistance in preparing some of this chapter content and Tom Jones for his backing related to all things fish health. Glenn Snapp and the team at INNOVASEA provided RAS design expertise and support. I am grateful to Alan Johnson for the many years of collaboration that has elevated the techniques that are now being applied. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Summerfelt for sharing his extensive knowledge of Walleye culture, for his guidance in the preparation of this manuscript, and for supporting my enthusiasm for the application of RAS for the production-scale culture of Walleye .

Alan Johnson wishes to thank the RFCRF culture teams in 2019–2020 for their work on this project: Coy Blair, Randall Esser, Conner Johnson, Rachel McDonnell, Jacob Miller, Steve Pecinovsky, and Adam Todd. I would like to thank Kevin Kelsey for a continued discussion of the challenges and successes of larviculture. I recognize Robert Summerfelt for his mentorship and shared enthusiasm for the science of Walleye culture. I would like to express my gratitude to the agencies that provided eggs for 2020: Kansas Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism for contributing Kerwin eggs and the USFWS and North Dakota Game & Fish for providing North Dakota eggs. Funding for this research was provided by the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration.

Robert Summerfelt thanks Kevin Kelsey and Alan Johnson for their invitation to collaborate in the preparation of this report. Personally, this has been an integrative experience of the laboratory research I have had on this topic. They (Kelsey, Sect. 2, and Johnson, Sect. 3) describe successful achievements that substantially advance prospects for hatchery-scale production methods for the intensive larviculture of Walleye , with an obvious application for on-growing Walleye and other species. Their accomplishments are a product of exceptional dedication over many years of research and development activities that have shown extraordinary resilience to accept, learn, and respond from setbacks that I know to be common with any effort to control living systems in the manner that we would like. Of course, their starting point and progress benefited from the experience of others that are cited in the text and also from unpublished studies by many hatchery persons who presented talks at the annual meetings of the Coolwater Workshop, Midcontinent Workshop, and World Aquaculture Society. It is as in the metaphor by Issac Newton, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants” (Chen 2013). Their success, however, has come not only from what they have learned from others but also from their own innovation in combining what was known of critical early life stages of this species and cultural systems using the latest RAS technology. Yet, all of that said, they recognize that more needs to be done.

The reference of trade names stated is to illustrate the application of these products to the culture process and does not suggest endorsement by the authors or their agency.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Moravia, IA, USA

    J. Alan Johnson

  2. Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, Ed Weed Fish Culture Station, Grand Isle, VT, USA

    Kevin Kelsey

  3. Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, IA, USA

    Robert Summerfelt

Authors
  1. J. Alan Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kevin Kelsey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Robert Summerfelt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Alan Johnson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    John Clay Bruner

  2. Lake Erie Center, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA

    Robin L. DeBruyne

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Johnson, J.A., Kelsey, K., Summerfelt, R. (2021). Walleye Larviculture in Water Reuse Aquaculture Systems. In: Bruner, J.C., DeBruyne, R.L. (eds) Yellow Perch, Walleye, and Sauger: Aspects of Ecology, Management, and Culture . Fish & Fisheries Series, vol 41. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80678-1_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation